


unlock my heart

by greywardenblue



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Comfort, Early Zexal, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:53:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26156836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greywardenblue/pseuds/greywardenblue
Summary: Astral tries to use his newfound knowledge of humans to make Yuma feel better.
Relationships: Astral/Tsukumo Yuuma
Comments: 9
Kudos: 73





	unlock my heart

**Author's Note:**

> Astral can make his body more physical in this fic, because I said so.

"My observation is that humans touch each other a lot."

"Huh?"

Yuma was standing in front of the mirror, trying to fix his hair after his sister caught him and messed it up.

"I have observed--"

"Yes, I heard you." Yuma kept frowning in the mirror. "I suppose we do. We're social creatures and all, and they say you need hugs to be healthy... And there's many other kind of touches."

"Hugging is what you did with Kotori earlier," Astral confirmed.

"Yes. Hugging is something you do with friends or family, because it feels nice and warm and comforting." Yuma was either done with his hair or at least gave up on trying to make it look better, because he turned away from the mirror and headed out of the bathroom. "Not everyone likes hugs, though."

Astral floated after him. "Do you?"

"Yeah! I think hugs are great."

Astral reached out with his hand towards Yuma's shoulder...

"Hey!" Yuma turned around quickly, glaring at him. "What was that? Are you doing something weird behind back?"

Astral pulled back the hand that had went easily through Yuma's shoulder, and stared at it in disappointment. "No," he said finally.

"You're _weird_ ," Yuma stressed, then went on his way. Astral followed.

\--

"Yuma... Yuma!"

"Uuugh... Astral, what is it again? It's the middle of the night. Don't tell me you're watching Robin again..."

"No, this is something different. Yuma, what are they doing?"

Yuma leaned out of his hammock quite dangerously to squint at the TV. "Huh? Astral... They're kissing."

"Kissing?"

Yuma groaned and flopped back down on the hammock, setting it in motion. "Astral, I'm not going to explain kissing to you."

"Is it like hugging, or..."

"No!" Yuma groaned a little more, then gave in. "Fine. Look. Kissing is something you do with people you really, really like."

Astral nodded. "Your friends."

" _No_. Well, it could be your friends, but it's not the same thing. You have to like them in a romantic way."

Astral frowned. "How do you know if you like someone in a romantic way?"

Silence. Astral looked up and saw Yuma staring at the ceiling. "I don't really know," he said finally. "Ugh, Astral, it's the middle of the night! I can't be talking about..." Yuma covered his face in his hands, then glanced down at Astral again. "Look. When you like someone in a romantic way, it's like... you want to be close to them all the time. And you really want them to like you back, so you get sort of silly and nervous and trip over your words. And you could do that with a friend too, but then you just... look at them doing something silly and think about how much you like them and want to kiss them. That's called a crush. And maybe you feel sort of funny in your stomach, or your face gets all red. That's called blushing." Yuma eyed him curiously. "Huh. I can't imagine you going red. I guess you can't blush, huh?"

Astral touched his face briefly. "I... don't know," he admitted. "I don't remember." As most things. "So people kiss to show that they really like someone?"

Yuma shrugged. "Yes. Or because it feels good, I guess. I wouldn't know, but movies always make it look like it feels good. Like fireworks."

"Fireworks?"

"You don't know...?! Man, I need to show you fireworks sometime."

"It sounds dangerous."

"It can be, but not if it's treated properly. I figure out how to show you tomorrow, okay? But turn off the TV now, I want to sleep."

\--

"I'm just going to sleep," Yuma called to his family, then went straight to his room and flopped down face down on the hammock, his face squished against the ropes.

"You usually go to sleep later," Astral commented.

"You don't say."

There was a pause. "My observation of human behavior suggests that you are upset about something."

Yuma made an unintelligible noise in response. Astral thought back to the previous school day. It must have been a special event, because there were many more people around than usually. Specifically, many more adults, which struck Astral as odd because he was accustomed to the school being largely visited by younger humans like Yuma.

"Are you upset because of all the parents at school today?"

Yuma turned on the hammock so that his back was towards Astral, and he didn't answer. Astral stepped closer, at a loss of what to do. Then he had an idea.

"May I try to help you feel better?" he asked. Yuma murmured something that sounded like _whatever_ , which he chose to take as affirmation.

This was the tricky part. Astral closed his eyes to focus, and imagined his self being heavier. He struggled with the feeling until he felt his feet touch the ground, then opened his eyes. Yuma was still lying in the hammock with his back turned. Astral approached carefully and reached out for the hammock...

"Hey, what are you doing?" Yuma turned around and grabbed his hand, and they both froze. Astral stared at their hands. It has been a few weeks since his unsuccessful attempt to touch Yuma - since then, he has been practicing a more physical form with various objects while Yuma was at school, but didn't try to reach out for him again.

"I didn't think you could do that," Yuma said.

"I've been practicing," Astral admitted.

Yuma stared for a little longer, then nodded. "Well, okay. But hammocks are tricky. You're gonna make both of us fall out if you're not careful. And frankly, I'm not even sure it's big enough for two." Despite his words, Yuma helped him settle in the hammock next to himself. They were very close, with Astral lying half on top of the boy, and Yuma was looking at him with amazement. "This is so we weird," he said. "I can definitely feel you're... there. But you're so light. Not as heavy as a human, for sure."

"I think it's different," Astral said, uncertainly. "I don't remember exactly. But I don't think I'm like this at home." He shifted to get more comfortable, putting his arms around Yuma like he saw the huggers do. "Is this alright?"

"Yeah... Yeah, that's fine." Yuma was quiet for a moment. "You're not as warm as a human, either. But it's... nice. Nice weird."

"I watch you often," Astral said suddenly. "All day. The small things you do..."

Yuma laughed. "I hope you didn't mean that as creepily as it sounded."

"I didn't. I try to find the right words, but you understand them differently. When I try to compliment you, to encourage you, it comes out strange... I get nervous."

"You're never nervous," Yuma said.

"I am often nervous. I can barely remember who I was, or what my world was like, and I certainly don't remember anything about yours. I don't know how to act here, or anywhere. I make observations so I can learn and try to do better. Because I want you to like me."

Yuma breathed in sharply. "I do like you," he said, louder than Astral expected. "And I'm... I'm sorry that I was rude to you and called you weird. In a bad way, I mean. It was just strange to suddenly have you be there all the time, you know? But... Yeah, this is nice, actually."

There was a moment of quiet where Astral just listened to Yuma's breathing. Then he said, "You do a lot of silly things."

Yuma frowned. "Is this one of those things that you mean like a compliment?"

Astral frowned too. "Yes. You said... Let me try again." He took a moment to collect his thoughts. "I watch you do silly things, and I think that I like you a lot. And that I would like to kiss you."

Yuma's eyes widened, and he stared at Astral in shock. A moment of silence. Two. Three...

"Yuma, are you alright? Your face is getting red."

Yuma made a small sound and rested his forehead against Astral's chest. "I really want to kiss you too," he mumbled. "I thought about it, after the last duel we won. But I didn't think... I didn't think I could touch you, or that you would want it..."

That was enough permission. Astral leaned forward to press their lips together, and Yuma made a surprised sound before kissing back. It wasn't quite like in the movie, and Astral had to concentrate to keep himself solid enough, but it was worth it.

"Does that feel good to you?" he asked quietly.

Yuma laughed, his cheeks still pink from blushing. "Yes. Yes, it does."


End file.
